Not that skinny dipping in the pond is entirely out of the question. It’s just that,
- This pond is right by the road and pretty much in full view. Not a great spot.
- The pond has lots of green gooey stuff growing in it. Looks neat and is probably great for wild life. Not great for swimming in.
- The last cow I had to chase tried to kill me. Being found dead in the barn is one thing. Being found naked and dead in a pond, now that’s quite another
We have an old paddle boat I haven’t used in years. My mother bought it when I was a teenager but it’s still here and still usable. I drug it, literally, from the other pond down to this pond and paddled up to the cow. He was not entirely pleased to see me and after some consideration decided he’d exit the pond and head back to dry land. I disembarked and followed on foot, getting him up to the head of the other pond and near the pasture where our other bloated cow and his friend were hanging out. Cattle like to be together so my plan was to walk him to the gate and he’d dart in to escape me and be with them.
Instead the other cow darted out to be with this guy. Sigh. I called Vicente to come down and help me, which is what I should have done in the first place. I had him walk the cows back to the gate while I guarded it to keep the cow who charged me still in the pasture. Very quickly Vicente had the cows moving. Unfortunately the cow who wasn’t bloated decided that jumping the fence was better than walking back so he escaped into the main pasture leaving the bloated cow behind. Sigh.
So Vicente walked the bloated cow back and we got him through the gate and into the pasture. By this time, Miguel has come back from the market. It’s about 100 degrees and everyone is dripping wet with sweat. We decide that the bloated cow is not going to go back into the paddock so we take pretty much every vehicle on the farm and make a hard barrier from the pasture to the head gate paddock. Usually we just use a temporary wire but we’re taking no chances this time. Trucks, trailers, tractors, are all lined up nose to tail making a 100 foot long, 100,000 pound fence. It’s quick and relatively easy. Miguel then takes the Gator to go get the cow while I watch from the fence. My Gator has four seats and I’m worried the cow might see the opening of the bench seats and try to jump through so I’m guarding that opening. After a few laps of the pasture, it’s clear that Miguel isn’t going to get the cow by himself. We quickly reconfigure the vehicle fence and I bring my Gator into the fray which is more fun than standing around watching Miguel do it. But that’s for the next post.